The Vessel and Victor
by ScarletBloomSword
Summary: Emiya Shirou after being saved from the fire that day, now lived with Kiritsugu as his adoptive son. For Kiritsugu, his son is his hope from being completely broken and empty. Live went on well with peace... but not until the thing he feared the most, will be repeated again.. Now, one last hope and strength, will all end well?
1. Chapter 1

Hello there! So... this is my very first fanfic. I want to let you know, I'm very sorry for any grammatical error. I decided to make Shirou the protagonist, since he's my ultimate favourite character.

Right! Before you start to read, here are some useful information :

This is a mixed story from Fate/ZERO and Fate/STAY NIGHT.

Since, this is my own fiction, I'll add some character that was supposed to be dead.

I'm a little hijacking the character's ages and years, because this is my own universe.

That's all. Okay then, enjoy! ,

DISCLAIMER : I do not own any of TYPE-MOON projects and ufotable, but this story is _**mine.**_

**CHAPTER I: A Hope in The Child**

_-Fuyuki City, 1995_

It was a bright day with a chance that rain may pour down in the evening. Five year old Shirou took a glance at the blue sky from his class window for a minute. He yawned when the teacher kept on explaining about the recent subject, Math – the thing he really detested. His friends were the opposite; they all listened eagerly at the subject filled with numbers and frustrating calculations. It really was a hard time for him. He just scrabbled with his pencil on the notebook. Well... he can't 'escape' the prison, right?

**. . . . . . . . .**

_Ding Dong! _

The front door bell rang, with its ringing sound so loud and annoying that it could be heard from every room in the house. _The purpose of the bell, I think..._

"I'm home!" Young Shirou announced cheerfully, the long hours at school had come to an end. Making a slight kick to release his shoes, he waited for a reply from one of the rooms, but only silence that answered his voice. The boy sighed, while walking slowly upstairs. He almost forgot that his parents were in their workplace. They both won't be at home until the night.

He ran into his room with a small journal in his hands. The room was quite simple and perfectly reflected Shirou's childish traits. He sat on the comfy little bed and opened his journal. Shirou was a very curious little child. Due to this, he had a habit to examine the thing he's very curious with, but instead of asking questions, he preferred to be more experimental.

For example: Shirou always saw that sushi would be dumped to the trash when nobody wanted to eat it anymore, and ask himself why. To answer his question, Shirou would put a sushi on the tray and leave it on its own, and disallow anyone to touch or even move it as if it was an important experiment. It turned out that raw fish would easily spoil because of the air and made it hard to be eaten again. He would write everything in full details.

For an adult, it was a ridiculous thing to do, but for Shirou's little mind, it was an amazing discovery. Shirou was in the world of his own mind and imagination.

But outside, in the peaceful city of Fuyuki, at a temple shrine, a man with a dead expression, dressed in black color from head to toe, was walking down the steps, his mind filled with thoughts. In some other place, another male with a golden cross necklace circling his neck stood silent as stone, his eyes lifeless, as if he had never been joyful in his entire life.

The wind was changing, the sun beginning to set, to welcome the darkness of the night.

A sound of clashing blades roaring of war filled the night, setting the stage of a battle.

**. . . . . . . . . **

"_And now, after a series of women and children disappearance and, the police noted a sudden stop in this criminal act, although they remain clueless about the culprit's identity. But, for the time being, Fuyuki has its peace once again... moving on... the... news..._" The voice of the news reporter echoed throughout the quiet house.

Shirou thought that he would find something good on TV, in order to cool his head first from the math project. Instead, the news was on. Well, he just leave it be, with big boulders of depression, he started to write the answer wearily but wasn't able to after the phone rang. He jumped to his feet, quickly grabbing the phone.

"Hello?"

"Ah! Shirou-chan?" A feminine voice could be heard from across the line.

"_Ara_? Tetsuki-sensei? What's the matter?" He asked, quietly surprised that it was his teacher. Worst, it was his Math teacher.

"Oh, nothing… I just want to remind you to bring the Math project tomorrow. Have you done it?" Tetsuki asked gleefully.

"Umm… well, I almost done, sensei," he said, glancing at the scrambled calculations on the paper.

"Really? So, can you tell me how you done number 3, Shirou-chan?" She asked again.

"I.. well, now is..Sen-" He was struggling for the right words, when an explosion shook the whole house. He fell to the floor and hit his head, while a second explosion followed, which cut the lights off from electricity. Shocked at what happened, a shaken Shirou could only crawl and covered his head from the debris that were now starting to fall. And around him, a slight smell of the burning hell of death whiffed.

**. . . . . . . . . **

Fire. That's what he first saw. He stared at the burning part of Shinto, because of the mud that had been spilled out from the Grail. It was night and, without any alert, the civilians were trapped in the fire. The cries of men, women, children, the cries of the lost people and voice hoarse from agony and pain were all mixed into a single horrifying music.

Emiya Kiritsugu ran into the hell without second thoughts, desperately trying to find someone...

_Anyone..?. A life!_ His hands searched through the debris, but he didn't care of the heat, for he was not even planning to keep on living... He lost... He failed.. and again and again, failed to be 'Hero of Justice.'

And now, he was trying to do something... hoping that something unexpected would happen… _Just one... one more_ _miracle!_ _JUST ONE MIRACLE TO HAPPEN_! He yelled to the night sky, either cursing the heavens for his fate or killing so many people, even his beloved ones...

Kiritsugu dropped to his knees. Clenching his fists, Kiritsugu cried from grief and terrible sadness. Everything he touched was already lifeless and had been turned into ashes.

Kiritsugu could only imagine the curse that Anggra Manyuu – the thing that was actually in the Grail – put on him. He would suffer for the rest of his life. No hope. No miracles. He was a broken man that hoped for a miracle to happen… because now… everything he touches turned into ashes as if getting away from his hands.

**. . . . . . . . . **

_The starting penalty is five. Life penalty, body penalty, freedom penalty, fame penalty, fortune penalty. Give the penalty that extends so much punishment, mud, darkness, and malice. Elimination of human rights by castration, exile, and execution. Torture and sadism inflicted upon the human body through digestion. Denial by consensus of the colony that eliminates all honor._

_Die._

_Scorn from judgment and selfishness that takes away men's fortunes. Death penalty, penal servitude, imprisonment, custody, fine penalty, crime from a grudge, crime from self-interest, unconscious crime, self-conscious crime, civil war, inducement, false statement, theft, robbery, kidnap, suicide, rape, arson, bombing, violation, negligent homicide, mass violence, death at work, overconfident accident._

_Die, die, die._

_Misdiagnosis, concealment, violation for benefit, violation for self-protection, violation for love, violation for respect, selfishness__. __Stealing, fraudulence, fraud, concealment, murder, theft, crime, crime, personal grudge, attack, attack, attack, attack, dirty, dirty, dirty, you are dirty, atone, atone, atone, atone, every violence, every crime, every victim, atone for everything. This world is ruled by something not human. Know the conscience to reform crimes._

_Die, die, die, die, die._

_Know the penalty to reform crimes. People's kindness is here. There is so much it cannot be noticed. Know the violence to hide crimes. Know the power to hide crimes. People's malignance is here. It is so rare yet it is noticed. A hundred kindnesses and one malignance. Malignance shines bright to keep the balance and exists as a great EVIL to compete with the masses of kindness. The starting penalty is five._

_DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE._

_For self,__for self,__for self,__for self,__for self,__for self,__for self,__for self,__for self,__for self,__for self, for self, for self, for self, for self, inducement, false statement, theft, robbery, kidnap, suicide, rape, arson, infringement, dirty, dirty, dirty, dirty, dirty, dirty, you are dirty, atone, atone, atone, atone, atone, atone, every violence, every crime, every victim, atone, atone, atone with death!_

_ATONE! DIE! DIE! TAKE ALL OF THEM! CURSE ONE! THE EVIL! BEGONE! DIE!_

"Gah!" Shirou tried to breathe and hold his tears, but the feeling crushed him to the bone. It shook him hard as only darkness filled his vision. The atmosphere was so tense and thick that it made him sick. His body was in pain as if thousands of javelins pierced through him. He could smell blood. His hands tried to grab onto something but everything was _nothing._ Shirou tried to breath but he couldn't as if someone choked him. Panic was on his nerves and he had the feeling that death was near.

Shirou kept waving his hands, expecting something to happen with the strength that came from 'Hope'. In desperation, the tears that he had been holding back flowed down on his face. His cries sounded into the darkness, though it seemed like no being had heard it. However, the spirit of the Grail, Avenger, heard the boy. The spirit glanced at him, seeing his tears flowed, reminded him of his life back then. The life he was still _human_.

He was within the Grail, but he wanted to be born, to be a person and to have the same thing that this boy was wishing for: to_ live. _Though the boy cried, there was an unwavering hope in him. Yes, hope... the thing that Avenger lost a long, long time ago. He still remembered it though, the remnants of the feeling. Then, he was silent for a moment... after a few minutes, Avenger walked towards the boy.

His hand reached out to the boy and he said, "Do you want to live?" Shirou flinched at the suddenness of the voice. He couldn't see Avenger but he was aware of his presence. Shirou only shut his mouth, didn't know what to answer... Avenger said the same question again, but this time with a little pressure on them. "I'll ask you again. Do you want to live or are you just going to let death embrace you?" At that point, Shirou, with all of his remaining strength, answered Avenger between his dying breaths, "I want to live…!" He said with hope. Avenger noticed the boy's stable heart and willpower, smiled and, with the mana's help from the Grail, he healed Shirou's inner wounds, while he said, "Then I can grant you life." He said. Since the beginning, the Grail was made to make a wish come true. So for the first time, the Grail managed to make that wish came true, a wish that was full of hope and was truly innocent…

**. . . . . . . . . **

He started to cough because of the smoke, but still wandered around the debris. With the very last hope in his heart, Kiritsugu's eyes widened when he saw a boy, in the middle of the debris, trying so hard to ask for help. If it was not because of his will to live, the voice would have been lost to the flickering fire.

Shirou could feel a warm hand holding his own. His eyes looked deeply into the dark eyes of the man who cried joyfully that someone survived. Kiritsugu kept saying 'thank you' for many times, as if he was not just saving the boy but himself as well. Shirou, not really knowing what happened and remained clueless, fell asleep under the warmth of Kiritsugu hugging him. The rain started to fall. Kiritsugu looked at the sleeping Shirou and smiled. Hope still existed, even after he was cursed… _something like this_… _what was it called? Ah, right_… _a miracle_. One more miracle had happened. To have saved one life, it was indeed a miracle to be called. At least, Shirou was a flick of hope in Kiritsugu's heart.

There! Phew.. That's done the first chapter.

Thanks a lot for reading this story, dear readers.

Review, review, review!


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note : Hi there! Here's a new chapter.

First of all, thank you for dear reviewers and hope you enjoy the chapter.

Now, let's get started

DISCLAIMER : I do not own any of TYPE-Moon projects but this story is _**mine**_.

**Chapter 2: Living a new kind of Life**

_- Fuyuki City, Emiya Residence, 1996_

It was night then, and with the moon behind the dark clouds, the sky was even darker – but not too dim for a six year old Shirou. As always, his face was as bright as the day. _Why?_ Well, aside from the Taiga's arrival, he was finally able to cook dinner for the whole household. Of course, Shirou was so proud that he could make dinner for Kiritsugu. _And now, Jii-san will never cook again... _He thought while munching on the rice and followed up by handing Taiga her bowl, already ready for her fourth one. "More please…"

There were reasons why Shirou learned to cook. First of it was because of his general curiosity – his habit to learn of things. Second, Taiga would always come to his house for 'free' food. Third and the most absolute reason... KIRITSUGU'S COOKING WAS REALLY, REAAALLLLYYYY BAD! Thankfully by grace, Kiritsugu himself admitted it... to Shirou's relief.

Kiritsugu, now in his fragile state, smiled at his adoptive son. Although he had been cursed for the rest of his life, the smile did come from his heart. His conditions were getting worst from time to time, his limbs already begun to get weak, a sudden bout of sickness would overcome his nerves that usually caused nausea or difficulty in breathing. He managed to cover them up, though.

It's not like he wanted to live after all the things he had done, instead he still kept on living because of Shirou and of another – a girl that Irisveil brought into the world, a girl known as Ilyasveil von Einzbern.

For many times, Kiritsugu had tried to bring back Ilyasveil from the Einzbern, but due to his Magic Circuits shutting off and his lack of mana, it was impossible to force through the bounded field and barrier around the Einzbern castle. Kiritsugu knew that there had only been one reason why. It was because he was the one the Einzbern hired to participate in the War. When he was only one step away from the Grail, Kiritsugu destroyed it, realizing that _one thing _inside of it. But the Einzbern had seen it as betrayal. The Holy Grail was the Einzbern's objective, their _desire_. For them, especially Acht, Kiritsugu's act was indeed a sign of betrayal. Whether Acht wanted to kill him or to let him suffer his whole life, Kiritsugu would not know, though the second sounded a little more accurate.

Kiritsugu thought that Ilya would be groomed to be the vessel of the Grail, the Lesser one. But, Kiritsugu already made a bumb on the ley line by explosives. So it would take time for another War to start, but he hoped that it would never repeat itself.

Now and then on, he would be living with Shirou in the Emiya Residence, with some company from old partners like the Fujimura, for example. Raiga, the grandfather of Taiga, was the yakuza boss of the neighborhood. Well, Taiga was really... _tiger_-like, as everyone probably knew. She's a demon at kendo and almost beat and drove Kiritsugu to the depth of his soul, when she taught him some kendo. Shirou knew her for some time now and was very fond of calling her "Fuji-nee".

The little boy, Emiya Shirou, didn't remember anything since the fire. The funny thing was that he only remembered his name. The rest of his memories were only fragments of the fire, nothing more.

It gave him nightmares at night and usually Kiritsugu comforted him after then, with the help of some medicine. As a former assassin and having no experience with a child, he did a fairly good job as a father. Shirou preferred to call him 'Jii-san' though. Like any other normal kid, he attended school and usually went to the kendo club after that; and if he did not, Taiga would be pleading to him to make her some bento. For his own sake, he tried to make a bento every time he headed to the club. It became his usual activity.

His father preferred to be at home, since he was in a weak state. He stayed in the Emiya residence, except when Taiga or Shirou wanted to go somewhere in town and asked for his company, usually to buy groceries or to try eating in some restaurants. Today, out of the blue, Kiritsugu felt that he was bored and needed some fresh air and a little walk. _The park would be nice, I think…_ He thought, since it was a bright Sunday after all.

"Hmmm... hmmm Oh? Jii-san, where are you going?" Shirou asked raising an eyebrow. It was indeed, a very rare scene for Kiritsugu standing up at the front door, wearing his shoes.

"Oh, Shirou, I just want to go to the town park. Always staying in the house just makes my body stiff... Do you want to come with me?" He asked smiling at the little boy. Gladly, Shirou walked out from the Emiya Residence with his father.

Holding on to Kiritsugu's hand, they passed by some houses and buildings along the road. The wind was comfortingly cool that day. Also Fuyuki was really bound to nature, so some preferred to walk by foot, just to enjoy the scenery. Then, the relaxing atmosphere changed. Shirou noticed that something was off, as he glanced at Kiritsugu. The man's face was a bit tense and his eyes were very cautious, aside from the dark gleam of hatred that reflected from them. Shirou looked to his left and realized that they were passing by a church. The gate's color was black and the yard seemed a little disordered, with some stones that he soon realized that the stones were in fact tombstones that marked the spot where the deceased foreigners lay.

Aside from that, a mass was about to start. Some people, young and old, took their steps in. Between the doors to the chapel, a man, who he assumed was the 'priest' – since, the people called him that – stood there. He wore a faint smile as he looked at them. Shirou noticed the priest's tall stature and his coat, for it was very odd for a priest to wear a coat over his black garment. While he was still looking at the church, Kiritsugu pulled Shirou by his hand and moved away, just in the exact moment when the priest turned to where Shirou was standing on before. But since Shirou had already been dragged away by Kiritsugu, he saw nothing but an empty spot, sighed and then walked inside the chapel.

Shirou surprised by the sudden reaction from Kiritsugu, quickly opened his mouth. "Jii-san…" No answer. "Jii-san," There was still no answer as Kiritsugu kept his pace fast, Shirou's little feet had a hard time keeping at his speed. He called him again, only this time louder. "Jii-san!"

Kiritsugu turned around. "What?" He answered looking annoyed.

"You're squeezing my hand," he said in a soft voice.

Kiritsugu was a little surprised, releasing the boy's hand in an instant. The boy blew some air to his reddened hand, realizing that Kiritsugu seemed to be a strong man in his past. Reaching his son's hand gently, his face softened. "I'm sorry. I was a little overboard with my emotions back there."

Shirou looking into his eyes, gave a nod, "No. It's okay, Jii-san. Maybe you just don't like that place," he said, pulling Kiritsugu's hands, wanting to proceed back in walking. Shirou gave a sigh of relief that his father was back to his normal self again.

The rest of the day went well, more or less. They got into the town park, took a sit at one of the benches. The park was quite large, with some children playing around and elders reading books or just chatting with their companions. Most of them seemed happy with glee, but they were all at the other side of the large park. Kiritsugu glanced at the withered trees at the right side of the green areas. The place was bare and the wind blew through the remaining leaves, making them dance. Most of the ground was barren, with no fertile soil for greens to grow. Mixed feelings of guilt and grief were all reflected on his face. The man closed his eyes. He still remembered that day. The day he failed to 'save' and also when one more miracle happened; the day of sorrow but also the same day when a drop of hope came from heaven…

"Jii-san," Shirou patted his shoulders.

"Hm?" Kiritsugu turned at Shirou. It seemed that he'd fallen asleep for some minutes.

"Are you tired? We should go home already, it almost night after all," Shirou said to his father.

"You're right," he answered. _Growwwll..._ Kiritsugu raised an eyebrow at Shirou. "After, we buy something to eat," he smiled as Shirou started to touch his rumbling stomach. He only nodded, though, as he couldn't seem to answer because of his sudden embarrassment.

Few hours later, they were back at home again. Kiritsugu glanced at the clock. _7.30 p.m. still got time..._ he thought to himself. Shirou made some tea and poured it into three different cups, which he placed on the table. Though the ticking sound of the clock shied away the silence that shrouded the whole house, it paled in comparison to the rumbling sound that approached the Emiya Residence.

_Please don't... Oh, please not again... God, I'm begging you!_

And a few seconds later…

_BOOM!_ A dust of cloud filled the entire room. The 'tiger was hungry, it seemed…

Upon seeing Taiga, the little boy quickly grabbed some sandwich and put it in front of her. "Kyaa! Sandwich!" She gobbled them all just in mere milliseconds. "Why didn't you tell me that you guys bought sandwich," She said smiling, while sipped her tea.

Shirou sighed in relief while Kiritsugu appeared relaxed at the moment now. Taiga didn't break the door. Success!

Usually, every night Taiga would drop by for dinner at Kiritugu's house, but having to come when she just had a hell of a day, she often barged inside because of both annoyance and hunger. It often left the door at Taiga's mercy; being shoved down so relentlessly left it broken. It resulted to Kiritsugu to routinely fix the doors. The money was not a problem, but who wanted their home doors to be destroyed for a hundred times?

Well, maybe tonight was different, and then the day ended peacefully—

_Crack_... _Break_... The door then fell, letting the night breeze came inside the house. Shirou, whose eyes were covered by his bangs, Taiga, who munched on her food hungrily, and finally Kiritsugu turned their heads from the table. _The curse? Do I have a bad luck? Why does it always happen?_

Another broken door...

"I'm sorry, can I have some more?" Clearly Taiga was not the type of person who could read other people's mood.

"Fuji-nee!"

"TAIGAAA!"

The day passed by...

The little girl stood there, holding her book and staring at the boy. Her eyes gave the impression of coldness and impassiveness, which matched to the steely purple dress that she wore, of the same color as her eyes and hair. The girl's name was Matou Sakura, the magus of the Matou family, one of the Three Families, and whose current head was Zouken. He was supposed to have died because of his age. But as a Magus, halting the progression of his age was an easy thing to do, especially for a persona like Zouken; too mean, too selfish and too proud to be laid peacefully in a grave. The wicked magus treated Sakura harshly and mercilessly put her into the dark chamber, to be rampaged by insects. Truth to be told, she had never ever loved her family, because she couldn't even feel she belonged there. Some voice in her heart, told her that a certain truth was hidden, which she tried to ignore, and, at the end, the same voice gave up and went quiet.

Sakura was now lonely, feeling that she's just a burden and was truly unwanted. Now, she's there, standing among the people who didn't even bother to look at her. Although she tried to speak, her voice only came in whisper, barely even audible. It was just a simple task to speak a word. But, being a small hearted child, she couldn't even simply make it.

Not until a certain boy bumped against her. Her bag fell and accidentally zipped open, spilling out most of her things. As she picked them up one by one, she was surprised to see that another hand started to help her, the hands that belonged to the boy named Shirou. He apologized to her many times, making her feel that someone was actually _talking_ to her.

"I'm sorry... I'm very sorry, I should have seen you," he said handing her a book. Sakura only nodded and grabbed it, quickly standing up and bowing back at Shirou.

"No, I should be the one who should be sorry," she barely spoke it out. Thankfully, Shirou heard it

He shook his head, "No need to say that. Come on, cheer up!" His cheery voice almost stung her ears. She never heard anyone telling her such words. The only thing she often heard was either the sound of the crawling insects or the Matou insulting her. It felt like something hit her, and tears started to stream down her face. "_Oi.. oi..._ Why are you crying?" Shirou looked panicked, but he then assisted her to a bench and gave her his handkerchief.

"Here, here… use this," handing it over to the still sniffing girl. Because she never reached for it, it was the boy who just wiped the tears with it. Looking aghast, she backed away from him, but after looking into his eyes, she was sure that he meant no harm to her. "T-thank you, I'm fine now," she said smiling at him. The boy scratched the back of his head and only gave an almost mischievous chuckle.

"Well, that's good, then. Anyway, what's your name? I'm Shirou."

"Sakura... Matou Sakura.." He raised a curious eyebrow, but replied nonetheless. "Okay, then. Sakura-chan, right? _Yoroshiku_." She nodded. This was the very first time that someone, besides from talking to her, wanting to make her an acquaintance.

For the next hours, Sakura really enjoyed it. Talking and joking with Shirou, walking around the park and sometimes playing hide and seek together. If there was more people like him, maybe her world would not be very dark again...

Her thoughts came to a halt when she glanced at the sky. Sighing heavily, she asked Shirou, about the current time.

"Now? Oh, it's already 3 p.m. Why? ...Oh, I know. You have to go to home, right?" He said while glancing at his watch.

Sakura fell silent again. She hated the fact that this moment should end and that she needed to be going back to the place she called 'home'. "Yes, I should be going back, but it's nice to see you, Shirou-kun," she said, standing up to her feet and started walking back to the direction of her house. "Good bye, Shirou-kun," she waved her hand at him.

Shirou paused for a moment and then shouted at her, "It's not good bye, Sakura-chan! _Ja nee._" Sakura could only smile, a smile that truly came from the bottom of her heart. She never expected that Shirou would say that. In her mind, she already thought that he would soon forget her and leave her as if she disappear like dust. But the reality was really the opposite and she was happy about it. She walked gleefully to her home while Shirou began to tread back to his house too.

Life was never the same since she met with Shirou, who soon enough became her best friend.

Okay, that's done the second chapter.

Thanks for reading.

Review,review,review!


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